I’m often guilty of being tempted by the super generous bonuses or a glitzy game library when I’m looking for a casino. Thankfully, I always make sure to pause and check out whether the casino is actually safe before I start uploading any of my important information - and you should too!
Casino comparison sites can be a really good tool for quickly finding the best options out there, but you need to make sure they take safety seriously. You can’t just pick any old comparison site and start playing. You need to assess the options, the rating guidelines, their team and customer support.
Let’s look at the factors I’ll be considering in my investigation in a little more detail:
● Range of safe casinos - Straight off the bat, I want to see a good number of safe casinos available. Including a range when it comes to games and payment methods, so each player can find the exact right fit.
● Rating guidelines - A site can’t just label a casino ‘safe’ and leave it at that. They need to make it clear exactly what they mean by that label and how they make sure they’re picking the best casinos.
● Team expertise - Now, this one might seem quite self-explanatory, but a site’s team is one of the most important things to think about. I’ll be looking at their experience in terms of years in the industry, former roles and education to make sure they know what they’re talking about.
● Customer support - If I have a question at a site, I don’t want to have to be waiting around for days to find an answer, and that’s even more important when it comes to safety. In my book, things like live chats and helplines score super highly because they mean I can get a quicker response than by email.
So, now that we have our criteria, we need to evaluate some of the leading casino comparison sites. I’ll be awarding each a rating out of five thumbs up.
Based on my experience using BetKiwi, I have no hesitation in recommending it to players looking for safe casinos, which is why they find themselves roaring into pole position! Right from the start, I was super impressed by how easy it was to find the certified safe casinos available as they were clearly listed under the ‘Online Casinos’ heading in the main menu.
Their ‘Safe Casinos’ page was really helpful for finding the right fit for me as it included everything I wanted to know about each casino - they even included minireviews. BetKiwi also clearly broke down exactly what the safe label meant to them by highlighting that they checked out licenses, security measures, player reviews and independent audits.
It was great to see they took player safety so seriously, and when I checked out the team behind the site I understood why. As players themselves, it’s no wonder that BetKiwi experts like Olivia Cox are so keen on selecting the best casinos. I was also pleased to see her experience extends to writing for some of the biggest names in the industry. She tops it all off by constantly reading the latest iGaming news.
BetKiwi has a super clear ‘Contact Us’ button with all the different emails you can contact for help. It’s also really helpful that you can contact different authors directly and leave comments on the site to get a quicker response.
There’s always room for improvement, and at BetKiwi, it would come in the form of more options. Currently, the site has only eight casinos under their ‘Safe Casinos’ page. I did notice they refresh their options regularly, but I was still disappointed in the small number available right now. I’d prefer to have at least 10 options to choose from, so I can find the absolute best casino out there.
One of my favorite things about using Gambling.com is the level of detail they include in their top list. It covers everything I needed to know, including the best bonuses, wagering requirements, payment methods, payout time and number of games available.
The thing that really stands out about Gambling.com, and cements their silver place finish, is the number of safe casinos they offer. There is a ton of variety with 253 casinos to choose from which offer every casino game under the sun. I was even able to find some cryptocurrency options!
I was also able to double check what exactly Gambling.com meant by safe by contacting them on social media. I think social media is a great option for customer support as it allows for much faster replies. They reiterated that they check things like licenses, only work with casinos that are licensed and examine the security methods used by each casino.
Gambling.com boasts a team that will truly wow you. They have decades upon decades of industry experience. When it came to casinos, Dean Ryan was the real standout team member thanks to his nearly 20 years in the industry. In his profile, Dean mentions being a player himself, which I think is great when it comes to safety as he knows exactly how important it is.
I don’t think Gambling.com needs to make major changes, but there’s a few minor tweaks that would really help to bump up their marks in my view. The specifically safe-labelled casinos need to be much more distinct from the other options, and I would like to see them define exactly what they mean by safe.
Gambling.com really needs a separate section for their rating guidelines as I was only able to find out what they consider when picking casinos by reading their ‘About Us’ page. That made finding out how they select their casinos pretty frustrating and much more time consuming than it needed to be. Before you say: “but they do have a guidelines page!” It’s editorial guidelines, which are not the same thing.
Let’s kick off with talking about what is easily the most impressive part of Casino.org: their 25-step selection process. I’ve never seen that level of attention when it comes to choosing casinos, and I knew I was truly picking from the best options as a result. They consider everything from games and bonuses to the mobile experience of using a casino.
They were equally as thorough when it came to considering the safety and security of a casino. I was easily able to tell what they take into account when they’re determining the safety of a casino, which includes licensing, security methods like SSL encryption and independent regulation such as eCOGRA.
One of the best features of Casino.org’s safe casino page was the comparison between the safe casinos and ones they wouldn’t recommend. This meant I was able to note some red flags to look out for in casinos, such as poor reviews, lengthy withdrawal times and slow customer service.
The team behind Casino.org certainly doesn’t let them down. The author of their safe casino page, Ramona Depares, is one of the site’s standout team members. Her profile absolutely blew me away with over seven years of experience, time spent at some of the biggest names in the industry and awards for Cultural Journalism and Opinion Writing. On top of all that, Ramona has three degrees from the University of Malta and regularly tops up her knowledge with conferences like EGR Global.
Although Casino.org includes the second most casinos of the comparison sites I examined, it could still work on their options. They currently only offer 10 verified safe casinos, and could really do with including a few more so everyone can find their perfect fit. I would also like to see a way to contact customer support which isn’t just email!
My next criticism is that I found it pretty difficult to locate the safe casinos that Casino.org had reviewed. I thought there would be a separate section under the ‘Online Casinos’ heading, like there is for other categories. In reality, it actually required a bit more digging as the safe casinos were included as a hyperlink under the general ‘Online Casinos’ page.
BetKiwi is the site I would recommend to anyone looking for the best, safe casinos available in New Zealand. From the very outset, they prioritize players with clear sections that classify the casinos they offer. Then they follow this up with a helpful top list.
I also need to mention their incredible team, which boasts impressive experience and includes players who know exactly what goes into making a top casino. That’s why I can safely say that BetKiwi is the best place I tried when it came to finding safe Kiwi casinos.
